Exploring Alternatives to Run QNX ARMv8 Image on Azure VM Without Nested Virtualization Support

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Exploring Alternatives to Run QNX ARMv8 Image on Azure VM Without Nested Virtualization Support

Hoai Tran Van 0

We have an instance D8psv6. Initially, we had a QNX ARMv8 image that could run with QEMU. However, it didn’t perform well because we didn’t have an ARM host to enable KVM. Later, we wanted to try running it on the instance Azure VM. But as you mentioned, nested virtualization is currently not supported on Azure. Could you please let me know if there is an alternative solution for running our QNX image on an Azure VM while ensuring it has the same performance and behavior as when KVM is enabled?

Mounika Reddy Anumandla 5,815 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-06-18T10:16:03.54+00:00

Hi Hoai Tran Van,

Running a QNX ARMv8 image with QEMU + KVM acceleration on Azure is challenging due to the lack of native ARM-based VM support with KVM in most Azure regions.
As of now, you cannot run an ARM guest with KVM on Azure ARM64 VMs because Azure doesn’t expose virtualization extensions (/dev/kvm) to customers.

As per my understanding, you can run QNX on an ARM Bare-Metal Host.
If performance and behavior parity with KVM is a must, you might need to use physical ARMv8 hardware (e.g., Raspberry Pi 5, NVIDIA Jetson, NXP i.MX board).

Use QEMU with TCG on Azure (slower). You’ve already tried this, but to summarize: QEMU without KVM uses TCG (Tiny Code Generator), which is pure emulation. Performance is typically 10x–30x slower than with KVM. It is suggested for limited functional testing, not for performance benchmarking or production simulation. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/34320595/how-to-run-qemu-without-tcg-and-without-kvm

Azure may eventually support Nested virtualization on ARM VMs or host a dedicated ARM KVM cluster (in preview/partner access). But as of mid-2025, KVM support for ARM guests is not available on Azure.

Let me know if you have any further queries!

Your answer

Mounika Reddy Anumandla 5,815 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-06-18T10:16:03.54+00:00

Hi Hoai Tran Van,

Running a QNX ARMv8 image with QEMU + KVM acceleration on Azure is challenging due to the lack of native ARM-based VM support with KVM in most Azure regions.
As of now, you cannot run an ARM guest with KVM on Azure ARM64 VMs because Azure doesn’t expose virtualization extensions (/dev/kvm) to customers.

As per my understanding, you can run QNX on an ARM Bare-Metal Host.
If performance and behavior parity with KVM is a must, you might need to use physical ARMv8 hardware (e.g., Raspberry Pi 5, NVIDIA Jetson, NXP i.MX board).

Use QEMU with TCG on Azure (slower). You’ve already tried this, but to summarize: QEMU without KVM uses TCG (Tiny Code Generator), which is pure emulation. Performance is typically 10x–30x slower than with KVM. It is suggested for limited functional testing, not for performance benchmarking or production simulation. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/34320595/how-to-run-qemu-without-tcg-and-without-kvm

Azure may eventually support Nested virtualization on ARM VMs or host a dedicated ARM KVM cluster (in preview/partner access). But as of mid-2025, KVM support for ARM guests is not available on Azure.

Let me know if you have any further queries!

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Exploring Alternatives to Run QNX ARMv8 Image on Azure VM Without Nested Virtualization Support

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